# Basket Pipes



## Jeff10236 (Nov 21, 2010)

Like many of us, I started on Dr. Grabow and basket pipes. Like many of us, I've picked up quite a few nice pipes over the years. Until recently, I hadn't smoked one of my Grabows or basket pipes in years. 

About a year and a half ago, I got an estate Grabow with a pipe rack I bought on Ebay. I cleaned it up, but never smoked it. A couple months ago I decided to smoke it just for the heck of it and was pleasantly surprised at its decent smoking qualities. I've been smoking it a bit lately, and I decided recently that maybe I should break out some of my basket pipes, especially the one or two that used to be among my favorites.

Before I report my results, let me start for the newbies with "what is a basket pipe". A basket pipe is a lower quality briar that you can buy at a smoke shop. They get their name because they are traditionally found in pile in a basket or bowl instead of on the wall or in a display at your local B&M smoke shop. Usually, there is no brand name, though some of mine have various low end names: Sabre, Columbia, and one has the name of the shop where I bought it (Fader's). Many people start here because they are inexpensive, they sometimes look good, and they seem to be a step up from drug store/grocery store brands like Dr. Grabow, Medico and Kaywoodie (those of us with more experience know better- the mass produced Grabows and Kaywoodies usually produce a much superior smoke to the cheap basket pipes).

So, how did mine fare?

I started with my Columbia since it was once one of my favorites. It has a shiny reddish finish, and is a bent pot with a saddle bit. The finish is dark so it does a pretty good job of disguising the fills, you do have to look closely to see them, and it is a pretty good looking pipe (especially when you don't look too closely). I was quite excited to give it another try since it was once one of my two favorite pipes, and was in my top four or five even when I started adding some higher end pipes. Wow was it a disappointment...

I also tried two no-name pipes, a bulldog with a natural finish and saddle bit, and a billiard with a natural finish. The bulldog has no markings, the billiard only has a stamp that says "Italy".

I may also include my Charles Fairmorn Canadian with this group. It isn't technically a basket pipe, from what I can tell online it is a semi-in-demand pipe brand in Europe. However, it was cheap (I bought it as my first estate pipe and it was very cheap), the smoking characteristics are similar to my basket pipes, and it has a ton of obvious fills in the briar like some of my basket pipes.

I will now review them together, as they all had very similar characteristics.

The air flow is very restricted on these pipes. They gurgle if you aren't quite careful, they smoke wet and require many pipe cleaner passes, and they get hot.

They don't generally look very good. The rustication on my rusticated bulldog is very rudimentary. The grain is quite boring. They all show obvious fills, but the Fairmorn and the no-name billiard are especially bad.

They are not well drilled. None of these pipes easily pass a pipe cleaner from the bit to the bowl. Some are quite obviously not drilled to the bottom or center of the bowl.

In addition to the three I smoked (plus the Charles Fairmorn), I also closely examined two others and tried to pass a pipe cleaner into them. For the most part, they shared many characteristics with the ones I smoked, and none easily passed a pipe cleaner.

The only one that looks good isn't really a basket pipe. My Italian FeRo is hard to find info about. However, when I bought it, while cheaper than a Stanwell or Peterson, it was almost double the price of the actual basket pipes at the time (I don't remember what I actually paid for it). For quite a while it was a favorite, even after I had some higher end pipes it was in my top 2 or 3, and stayed in my top 5 for a long time. I don't remember how well it smokes since it has been about 6 months since I smoked it, and it has some very nice looking rustication. It has an interesting clear stem. However, it does have a stinger making it impossible to pass a pipe cleaner through to the bowl. It is a definite improvement over the actual basket pipes, and still was reasonably priced.


So, I guess my point to all this (other than just reporting on a personal experiment) is to make a suggestion to anyone just entering the pipe world. Avoid basket pipes. There is no reason to buy them. A Dr. Grabow or Kaywoodie, while not a high end pipe, will give you a decent smoke, and a far superior smoke to any basket pipe. A corn cob, while not a looker (though I like the look of my Patriot), will give you a smoke that will rival some high end briars and generally cost you $5-10. If you want a good briar, the lower end good pipes are night and day improvements over the basket pipes and can be had around $50 or so. If you go with an estate pipe, you can find some great smokers for incredible deals. Skip the basket pipe phase many of us went through and you will save a lot of money on mediocre pipes, and spare yourself some less satisfying smokes.

I have been keeping some of these around for nostalgia, but I'm seriously thinking about freeing up some space and putting these up as a lot on Ebay just to get rid of them.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

You are correct that poor engineering or drilling almost always results in a poor smoking pipe. Basket Pipes are there for a reason either because they have cosmetic flaws or poor drilling. If you can sort though them enough to find one that will pass a pipe cleaner, and has the draft hole centered in the bottom of the pipe you'll probably have a good smoking inexpensive pipe. 

I'm a fan of Grabow's and Kaywoodie's but only have a couple of them including the Grabow that was my first pipe. I'm sure a lot of people are thrown off because of the places and packaging in which you can buy these mass produced pipes, as well as the "You get what you pay for" mentality. Unfortunately there are also premium factory pipes which are beautiful but are routinely drilled horribly compared to those mass produced pipes. I won't mention any names 
*cough* Peterson *cough*


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## Smoke King David (Mar 11, 2007)

Yep, I agree that one should avoid buying a basket pipe. But ... one time in Florida I was at a B&M and looked at the shop's basket pipes. I found a Brebbia and a Cristiano in among the other pipes. The shop owner honored the basket pipe price, even though those two pipes were much more expensive. I returned there four yrs later. They don't sell basket pipes anymore!
So, while this experience is clearly the exception, not the rule, it may be worth your while to at least peek at those basket pipes. I am glad that I did.


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Most everyone here knows that I'm a big fan of Dr Grabow pipes. I've got a dozen or so in rotation, some modern and some old estates. The older ones (especially the higher end ones) seem to be a step up in craftsmanship, appearance, and feel in the hand. But the modern ones are great, too.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Commander Quan said:


> If you can sort though them enough to find one that will pass a pipe cleaner, and has the draft hole centered in the bottom of the pipe you'll probably have a good smoking inexpensive pipe.


Precisely so, as it were.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Smoke King David said:


> Yep, I agree that one should avoid buying a basket pipe.


I don't see anything wrong with buying basket pipes as long as you check them out as Derrick describes. But never buy a basket pipe on line, for obvious reasons...


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## splattttttt (May 17, 2012)

I own a Medico estate buy that is sort'a girly, but provides me a a quick cool smoke for when time is short. Sometime I'll reload for a one two just because I have the time ( :


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

I don't know why people bother with basket pipes, considering the great deals you can get for estates on eBay. Heaps and heaps of pipes in the < $40 category that will be as good as a new $120 pipe.


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## TanZ2005 (Jun 25, 2006)

Hello all, I am not one to start drama, However I have to say I have a Basket pipe that I got from my Old B&M that I miss a lot from Silverdale WA. When I seen the first post and some of the others I was kind of Blown away. I have bought a few from this Basket in my time around that B&M 6 in all the other 5 I gave out as Presents. I am honestly sorry others have had some bad luck with the Pipes they have found in the Baskets and maybe the Man at the B&M where I got mine didn't put out the crappy ones. I mean I would not have bought a pipe for 45.00 if it was in bad shape. I have mine sitting on a Rack and have to admit that in the last month I think I only smoked it once so it is a little dirty. I took some pictures of my pipe and wanted to share them here. I paid 45.00 for this pipe. The Pipe has a Perfect fitting Stem, The holes are in perfect. There is no Fills. THe only flaw I could find in this pipe was where the Stem meets the shank there is a little area that isn't flat. However this don't take away from the way the Pipe smokes or how it looks. This will be the first picture that I will post here. The only Flaw I can find is to the Right of the light glare in this first picture








This is the first and only OOM Paul I have

























































I smoke all kinds of Tobacco in this pipe. The last Tobacco I smoked in it was some Golden Slice. Out of the 60+ Pipes I have some some 100 to 300 bucks I would rate this in my top 5 Just under my Roma.

James


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## TanZ2005 (Jun 25, 2006)

opps double post


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## splattttttt (May 17, 2012)

James, that BP looks scrumptious. Yes, there are those BP that sometimes surpass their intent; as has been stated... Most of the shops I frequent though, wouldn't have put yours in a basket. As some or most of what I tend to see, probably isn't briar at all LOL


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Nice pipe, James! When I first started smoking a pipe, in 1961, I bought everything pipish at Mincer's Pipe Shop in Charlottesville. The basket pipes were Comoy's seconds, all natural finish. Mr. Mincer said the trick was to dig around and find one with a good drill, ala CQ's advice. "Like this one," he said. Which I bought, a basic pot shape that I smoked for almost 20 years and considered one of my best pipes. Think they went for $3, but I can't be sure -- maybe $5.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Irfan said:


> I don't know why people bother with basket pipes, considering the great deals you can get for estates on eBay. Heaps and heaps of pipes in the < $40 category that will be as good as a new $120 pipe.


I'm one who is not an eBay fan for pipes. I've never heard anyone say "wow, this is a great pipe; I think I'll sell it on eBay". I have, on the other hand, heard people say, "well, if it sucks, I'll just sell it on eBay."


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## logically (Feb 26, 2013)

I have one basket pipe. It's not a horrible smoker. It's not a great smoker either. My Dr. Grabow easily surpasses it as far as enjoyment of the smoke. 

The only time my basket pipe really gets use is if I want a pipe to take to the bar. Because if it get's lost or broken I won't cry.


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

MarkC said:


> I'm one who is not an eBay fan for pipes. I've never heard anyone say "wow, this is a great pipe; I think I'll sell it on eBay". I have, on the other hand, heard people say, "well, if it sucks, I'll just sell it on eBay."


Haha. It's hard for me to argue, because apart from my cobs and meers, I've bought _all _my briar pipes on eBay, so I don't know nuffin' different. But you're assuming that only active pipe smokers sell pipes on eBay. There are a lot of dealers, who probably get their stock from all sorts of sources, including estates, junk shops, etc. I don't see why any trader on eBay should be better or worse than a trader you meet through any other source. There are some drawbacks. You've got to be careful about working out the dimensions, in the early days, I often got a pipe that was a completely different size to what I imagined. I have a few slightly obscure collector interests, like an interest in a couple of 1960s small-scale US pipe makers (Malaga and John Bessai, to be specific, I've got about 13 Malaga and 6 John Bessai). I can't imagine how you'd search out those pipes anywhere except eBay. They aren't particularly highly priced, usually under $40.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

MarkC said:


> I'm one who is not an eBay fan for pipes. I've never heard anyone say "wow, this is a great pipe; I think I'll sell it on eBay". I have, on the other hand, heard people say, "well, if it sucks, I'll just sell it on eBay."


On the other hand, I think a lot of the pipes for sale are from, "Uncle Dread died last week and he had all these stinking pipes and closets full of tobacco. Maybe we can get something for them on ebay, rather than just tossing them out."

I must say, though, "lightly smoked" is always suspicious.


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## logically (Feb 26, 2013)

Woops I meant to post a picture of my basket pipe. For some reason it didn't work. Let me try again.








It's a smaller pipe


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Yeah, some of those big lots of pipes are tempting. And I have bought pipes on eBay before; my Kaywoodie and my very first Stanwell came from eBay, so I'm not dead set against it. Just leery, I guess...


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## TanZ2005 (Jun 25, 2006)

Yes some buys on Ebay are like what you been smoking (Surely not Pipe Tobacco) still waiting for this old lady to take off a Gold Coast that she has set on a Buy it now for 45.00 and listed as a Gold Crest Medico. Yes that is a Pipe I look for on Ebay from timeto time is the Gold Crest from Medico. So when I seen hers I was like awwww Granny don't know that isn't a Gold Crest, lets be a nice person and let her know so she don't look totally nuts on her pipe listings. Her reply was I am away from home right now at my Grand daughters and I can't look right now to see if it is listed right or not. Well she has since then returned home and it is still listed that way. For me it is no mistake and just put her in my DOn't buy from list seeing she sales collectibles I know better. Kind of upsets me to see someone that would take advantage of others just cause one or 100 neg feedback wouldn't hurt their 100% positive rating. I have loads of nice pipes that I found on Ebay. Stanwell, Savinelli Roma and a Winslow Smooth Bent brandy that paid for the lot. I thought it was a free hand when I first looked at it. Missing the stem, a friend that was visiting had to have it and paid me what I paid for the lot. It was worth more but. Rare finds are Rare when I find them I get all happy. oh yeah and a Ben Wade I found as well. again another I thought was a Free hand pipe.


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## splattttttt (May 17, 2012)

MarkC said:


> Yeah, some of those big lots of pipes are tempting. And I have bought pipes on eBay before; my Kaywoodie and my very first Stanwell came from eBay, so I'm not dead set against it. Just leery, I guess...


I'm watching this one... Edward's Straight Grain Bent Apple Pipe New Unsmoked op2:


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## B.L. Sims (Jan 14, 2010)

While I wont put it up against many brand name pipes, the $20 I spent on a basket model from the local B&M has served me faithfully for a couple years.
Being only $20, it also didnt pain me to try my hand at rustification and staining.
Nicley mated shank/stem, fits well in the hand, ample space for an hour+ smoke, great smoker, and a properly drilled draft hole- its hard to beat that.


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## steinr1 (Oct 22, 2010)

MarkC said:


> I'm one who is not an eBay fan for pipes. I've never heard anyone say "wow, this is a great pipe; I think I'll sell it on eBay". I have, on the other hand, heard people say, "well, if it sucks, I'll just sell it on eBay."


Things might well not be the same in the US, but in Europe, where there is no "mass" resurgence of interest in pipes, like there appears to be over the pond, estate pipes are usually a good bet. The stock for these are in large part from "Estates". Dead folk's stuff. I've had hardlly a bad pipe in over 400 buys. I always reckon that the bad ones will have burnt out, cracked or been flung in the bin long before they get to me.


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## Sherlocke (Nov 7, 2011)

I made out like a bandit on the basket pipes at my local shop last year. They bought the stock from another shop in the state that was closing up due to the owners retirement. I scored a few Savinellis and a couple of Israeli made Alphas in practically new condition. 

That being said, the basket there lately consists of the usual no-name pipes that feel pretty poorly made. It's fun to dig through them though. Ebay has been my method lately for estate pipes, and hopefully I'll get access to the classifieds on Puff at some point. I seem to remember reading that when you are worthy of viewing the classifieds, you will be notified, but can't remember the exact procedure.


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